Release Date: 01 August 2011
Label: Hyperion Records Ltd
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 034571178158
Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental
Description
British organist Andrew-John Smith once again brings his compelling artistry to the service of Camille Saint-Saens. Smith’s commanding sense of architecture, breathtaking musicality and astonishing control of dynamics and nuance is thrilling. As with Volume 1, this disc provides a rare opportunity to hear Saint-Saens’s organ works played on the very instrument for which they were composed—the magnificent Cavaille-Coll at La Madeleine, Paris.
The art of improvisation was essential for French organists and huge importance was placed on the development of this skill. Saint-Saens was renowned for his extraordinary organ improvisations and it was said that ‘his genius was of an indescribable splendour’. In committing these extensive improvisations to paper he offers an insight into his instinctive musical logic and dazzling virtuosity. The Preludes and Fugues bear witness to the composer’s improvisatory flare and demonstrate the extent of his vastly imaginative compositional skills.
Tracklisting
The Brabant Ensemble / Stephen Rice
Steven Isserlis
Takacs Quartet
The Nash Ensemble
MultiPiano Ensemble, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Ivor Bolton
Marc-Andre Hamelin
Marc-Andre Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Gothic Voices / Christopher Page
Andrew-John Smith
